The Gold Standard: Building a World-Class Team Paperback – Bargain Price, April 30, 2010

I really enjoyed coach K’s insight and perspective on building a team from the ground up and taking them through the paces to win the Olympic Gold.It was fascinating to read how deliberate coach K worked to build his team - co-creating standards, communication, trust. Knowing that the character of each man mattered as much as his talent.I recommend this book to leaders at every level - especially coaches and veteran players. The insights that coach K provides are great reminders for players and leaders to be deliberate and not miss opportunities to build and strengthen the team.I especially enjoyed many of the practice and pre-game rituals, as well as empowering players to have the space to lead.One of my favorite insights from this book is during the championship game, playing against Spain for the Gold. With a tight score and a few minutes on the clock, USA calls a timeout. In this moment, i was expecting coach K to explain a well timed strategy - but instead, he tells the team, “go play ball.”

This is a great book for any aspiring coach who is always looking for a few pointers on dealing with people. Although the book is about what transpired en route to the gold medal, it has a cool behind-the-scenes point of view and delves into the relational aspects of coaching and motivation. Anyone interested in sports history would enjoy this book, as well. This book gave me a new perspective on some of the superstars involved in the process, and mainly their selflessness.

Admittedly I'm a Coach K and Duke Blue Devil fan, so without question that biases my review. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and I found several "leadership takeaways" that I can apply to my professional life as a military officer. The book was an easy read and what I enjoyed most was the picture Coach K painted of the relationships he developed both on and off the court with basketball royalty. I'm looking forward to Coach K's next book now that he has another Gold Medal and NCAA championship to add to his long list of accomplishments. What I hope to see in the near future is a book about Coach K from the prospective of his former players to include the NBA elite.

Great book. I gave it to our team's leaders to read over the summer.

Hope my grandson likes it.

Written to teach many lessons from basketball, to patriotism, to team building, to people skills. If you run any organization and like sports, this is a book for you. I would hasten to add even a Carolina fan may find it enjoyable....well maybe at least palatable.

Thank you coach for helping myself and others to be better and to dream of representing team USA one day.

I bought this book for my thirty-something son-in-law for Christmas. He had requested it. He was very excited to get it and read it through in the first few days after Christmas. He enjoyed it very much and definitely recommends to others in our family and in his business.

Great for all sports fans and aspiring leaders

Coach KWell he is always been one of his kind :)A person we can all learn from